Social Media Helps Family Waiting For Word From Haiti

Ten or 15 years ago, when a major disaster struck, communication between affected loved ones was difficult. If phone lines were dead or overextended, those searching for information on friends and family were stuck. Since last week's earthquake in Haiti, however, millions throughout the world have been keeping in touch through text messaging, online social networks and more, making sense out of the wreckage in ways that didn't even exist just a few years ago.

Maureen Boyer's family used social media in their search for her after the quake. Maureen is from Haiti. A recent Dickinson College graduate, she moved back home outside of Port-au-Prince just two weeks before the quake hit. She was helping run an art gallery there.

After the earthquake, her parents and relatives in Florida, New York City, and Montreal, as well as college friends spread all over the country, were worried sick about her. They didn't know if she was alive, dead, or badly injured. "We were just in shock," said Kathy Boyer, Maureen's stepmother. "None of the phone calls we made went through to Haiti, from any of our friends or family."

So they went to work. Maureen, or "Momo," as loved ones call her, was active on Facebook and Twitter. So one of Maureen's good friends and sorority sister from college, Rachel Hurnyak, started scouring her Facebook page and Twitter feeds for any clues of her whereabouts and condition. Both pages had been silent since the quake hit, at least on Maureen's end. Countless friends posted messages on her wall, wondering where she was and how she was doing.

"People were definitely dealing with their grief about the situation over Facebook," said Hurnyak. "None of us could get together in the same room and hug each other or cry or hold hands, say a prayer. None of us could assemble to get strength from each other. I feel like Facebook functioned as an online vigil."

Hurnyak and Kathy Boyer found a clue in Maureen's second to last Twitter update before the quake. Hurnyak says, "Momo, one hour before the quake, Twittered where she was." From that tweet, they deduced she was walking home to the mountains from work when the quake struck, and was not likely in a building when the ground began to shake. This let them all breathe a sigh of relief. They used Google Maps to further pinpoint her possible location.

Then, Maureen's family and her Dickinson College community made two videos for CNN's iReport. They hoped that if they could generate enough traffic to the videos, CNN might give Maureen's story further coverage and help find her. The video was shared on countless e-mail chains, Facebook status updates and tweets, to get the word out to as many people as possible.

Meanwhile in Florida, Maureen's mother, Lissa Vendryes, waited anxiously for news about her daughter, who was living in the U.S. just weeks before. "Maureen just went back to Haiti, and I was so worried. I was sick worried," she said. Maureen's father, Chico Boyer, sat glued to CNN from his home in New York, waiting for any news.

At the same time, Hurnyak and Kathy Boyer were doing whatever they could to make sure that Maureen was on the U.S. State Department's list of American citizens in Haiti. Trying to do so over the phone was impossible, with lines still overextended. So Hurnyak, Kathy Boyer and others begin pleading for any help from friends on Facebook and Twitter who had connections in the State Department. Ultimately, a cousin of Kathy's in Ireland saw the Facebook entreaty, and was able to add Maureen to the list from the U.S. embassy in Dublin, where the wait to do so was much shorter.

Word that Maureen was OK finally reached family in Canada Thursday after the earthquake. Relatives in Port-au-Prince texted Maureen's aunt in Montreal, from the cell phone of two CBS reporters on the ground in Haiti. But friends and family think the text took almost two days to reach Maureen's aunt, lines were tied up so badly.

As soon as the family found out the good news, word hit Facebook, The status updates and responses were joyous, even from people who didn't even know Maureen. And ultimately, social media helped her loved ones help others affected — loved ones urged donations for those affected in Haiti, online and in Maureen Boyer's name.

Even though Maureen wasn't found through social media, her family and friends used it to keep busy, feel involved, and avoid just sitting at home waiting for a phone call or a knock on the door, which is what happened years ago during disasters.

While news that Maureen was safe finally came via text message, the comfort and sense of agency social media provided her family in the meantime helped keep loved ones across the globe informed, and made those tortuous days of waiting seem at least a little bit shorter. In this digital age, you don't have to wait alone anymore.